In Chapter 38, Anne says, "As 'Josiah Allen's wife,' says, 'I shall be mejum'" in response to Mrs. Lynde's comment that Anne is "going to kill herself." Anne says that she is not going to overdo things and that she'll have plenty of free time in the evenings. "Mejum" means "in the middle, medium." Josiah Allen's wife was a pseudonym for Marietta Holley (1836-1926), a humorist from upstate New York who wrote in the style of country "cracker-barrel philosophers." Her well-known work was My Opinion and Betsy Bobbet's of 1873, which contained women's humor. The book includes stories about Samantha, Josiah Allen's wife, who was a fictional proponent of women's rights. Marietta Holley wrote many works on prohibition and women's rights and was friends with leading suffragettes of her time, including Susan B. Anthony. She was often referred to as the female Mark Twain.
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